Mantiri affair a test of RI-Australian relations
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's withdrawal of Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.B.L. Mantiri as ambassador to Australia marks a low in the up-and-down relationship between Jakarta and Canberra and comes at a time when relations were at a very high point.
On Thursday Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas announced the withdrawal of Ambassador Mantiri and said the post would be left vacant indefinitely.
While observers said yesterday that the incident was regrettable, coming as it did just when relations between the two countries were at their best, they also expressed hope that the ties have reached a point at which the damage can be quickly mended and the Mantiri affair will not be more than a minor sore point in long-term relations.
Legislator Krissantono told the Jakarta Post that he feels both Canberra and Jakarta would not allow the overall situation to get out of hand, since a weakening of relations would be detrimental to the overall stability of the region.
Being neighbors, he argued, both countries have a mutual interest in maintaining cordial relations.
He acknowledged that the episode had made relations "uneasy", but maintained that the conscious efforts made by both sides in recent years would limit the fallout.
Krissantono laid emphasis upon the very good rapport between President Soeharto and Prime Minister Paul Keating in support of his view that the Mantiri chapter was not likely to precipitate a marked deterioration in relations. This particular strength, he said, had been lacking in previous years.
Political scientist Juwono Sudarsono said Thursday's decision to withdraw Mantiri reflected wisdom on Soeharto's part in understanding the pressure Keating was facing at home over Mantiri's appointment.
Preventive
Indonesia could have persisted with the appointment but it knew things would only get worse as a result, Juwono said.
Krissantono also regarded Jakarta's move as a preventive measure to allow relations to continue to blossom in the future.
"Our government can understand the relationship between the Australian government and its people," he said.
Nevertheless, he said that the decision was an "emotional" one intended to be "a lesson to the Australian government and people that, as sovereign states, we should mutually respect each other."
"The incident should be a point of reflection for them."
Mantiri's withdrawal adds to the long list of incidents and misunderstandings that have plagued the two nations over the past decade.
Without the high level of amicability forged in the past four- years, this latest incident could have seen a repeat of the 1986 low point spurred by an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald which Indonesia found demeaning to Soeharto.
The article prompted the cancellation of a visit of State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie to Australia and all other high delegation visits and a blanket ban against all Australian journalists in Indonesia. At one point, Indonesia also abruptly canceled the visa-free facility for Australians, requiring hundreds of Australian tourists who were flying to Indonesia at the time of the decision to wait at airports before being sent home again.
The two countries have since worked hard to build their relations on the basis of mutual respect and greater mutual understanding.
The year 1991 marked an important year, with Paul Keating's ascendancy to Prime Minister. Keating assertively underlined his foreign policy intentions when he said "no other country is more important to Australia than Indonesia."
Since then, there have been minor spats but as Alatas has said that he and his Australian counterpart Gareth Evans will not let relations be harmed by partial comments or incidents.
Legislator Theo Sambuaga stressed that relations can only be fostered when both sides display sensitivity towards the other.
Theo, who is Indonesia's representative to the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU), contended that Mantiri's withdrawal exemplified Jakarta's sensitivity towards the demands being placed on the Keating government.
Krissantono concurred with Theo's, but argued that, conversely, Indonesia should also take into account Canberra's considerations for an ambassador.
Despite stressing that Indonesia should have full sovereignty in the matter, he said that "their considerations should be weighed carefully."
An often cited point of contention is that Canberra's preference for a civilian Indonesian ambassador there. Krissantono feels that the issue of a non-military officer is rather contrived and intended to focus attention on the issue of East Timor.
Australian specialist Ikrar Nusa Bhakti seemed to point to Mantiri's withdrawal as a mature move aimed at furthering the long term friendship between the two countries.
"There's a possibility the withdrawal of Mantiri's nomination was an Australian request, although it was not done in the open," the researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said, as quoted by Antara.